News, views and musings from the Adobe UK team

Hot off the press! We’ve just released our State of Creativity report, which reveals that 67% of teachers and lecturers in the UK believe that creativity in education is vital to fuel the economies of the future, yet believe the current curriculum is hindering them from fostering creativity in education.

It shows that 68% believe in order to teach creativity well, there needs to be a transformation in the way institutions across the country work, with 61% stating that creativity is ‘stifled’ by the current education system. When asked to name the most important step to addressing this 69% of educators said they need more tools and techniques to teach creativity.

As a result, we are calling on decision makers within schools and universities to invest in the latest technologies to help support their staff and meet the growing expectations of parents. Click on the infographic below to view all the key findings in detail:

As the fashion world gears up for the Autumn/Winter season, stylish men across the UK with a thirst for the latest trends are set to have a new ally, as today sees the launch of a new digital weekly edition of monthly men’s magazine, Esquire.

Dubbed Esquire Weekly, the new tablet format is designed for men on the move.

The concept for the new weekly title is “your week in 20 minutes”. Esquire promises it will deliver seven original features spanning culture, politics, comedy and food. Features will be brought to life with interactive functionality and video, and the app will also contain an in-built e-commerce functionality enabling people to search and buy product recommendations.

The move to introduce e-commerce functionality will have particular appeal to their target demographic. In 2012, some 12.7% of all purchases were made over the internet, according to a recent study, and this is projected to rise to 22% by 2018. Clothes are the most popular online purchases by men with 43% of internet users purchasing items online. Giving their readers the opportunity to ‘get the look’ with the swipe of a finger will have huge connotations not just for the title but also its advertisers. By using the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Enterprise Edition Esquire will be able to drive tablet-commerce revenue by allowing customers to purchase using links to various eCommerce sites from within the app.

Other new additions for Hearst include the launch of bi-annual fashion magazine, the Big Black Book as well as a complete overhaul of the Esquire website in the spring, and a concerted push into mobile apps for smartphones.

The Esquire Weekly app will be sold exclusively through the Apple iTunes store. The app is launched with a 30-day free trial period and beyond that will cost 99p per week – Esquire currently costs £4.25 in print from a newsagent. A three-month deal, for £4.99, will provide 12 Esquire Weekly editions, three of the digital editions of the monthly magazine and one of the Big Black Book.

An Android version for other tablet devices set to follow in the near future, make sure you follow @AdobeUK for more updates.

We’re down in Brighton today for the annual Reasons to be Creativeconference, where we’ll be joining the very best of the UK’s creative talent for three days of education and inspiration on the latest trends, tools and techniques from the world of web design, film-making, animation and more.

If you’re heading down here yourself, then you’ll very shortly see our very own Paul Trani hit the stage for the opening keynote where he’ll be setting the tone for the event with a discussion around creativity and a demonstration of how creative ideas can be brought to life through tools such as Creative Cloud, both now and in the future.

Not only that, we’re also giving delegates 50 ‘reasons to be creative’ as we’re running a competition to give away 50 Adobe bean bags during the conference. All you have to do to enter, is tweet us on @AdobeUK telling us what inspires your creativity – and make sure you include the #reasonsto hashtag. The competition opens at 10am today and closes at 1pm on Wednesday 4th September. We’ll be notifying the winners by 2pm and they’ll have until 3pm to collect their beanbag. Remember, only delegates can participate – so if you’re not going but you know someone who is, then let them know they could be in with a chance of winning. Full T’s and C’s available here.

If you can’t make it down, then be sure to follow @AdobeUK for all the latest news from the conference – plus we’ll be live tweeting from @AdobeUK during Paul’s keynote between 10am and 11am this morning.

If you’ve got experience teaching digital media to your students using Adobe tools such as Photoshop, and you’re keen to impart your knowledge and train your colleagues to do the same, then listen up. Because we’re giving you the opportunity to participate in our free Train the Trainer online course and to earn an Adobe Education Trainer credential this summer.

This free online course launches on 21st July 2013 on the Adobe Education Exchange and runs over ten weeks until 15 September 2013 – at the end of which you’ll be qualified to train your fellow teachers or lecturers on the best way to use Adobe’s creative tools in their own lessons.

Anyone who successfully completes the course requirements will not only earn a digital Adobe Education Trainer credential, you’ll also get to enjoy a tonne of other benefits;

Access to an exclusive Adobe Professional Development Toolkit that can be used to design and deliver customised training to schools, colleges and universities around the world

An invitation to join an exclusive professional learning community of Adobe Education Trainers worldwide

Inclusion of your name and contact information in an online global database of Adobe Education Trainers

An invitation to participate in further training-for-trainers and professional learning activities designed specifically for Adobe Education Trainers

Use of an “Adobe Education Trainer” digital credential to market your services

The Adobe Train the Trainer course takes place from July 21st – 15th September 2013. To get started, click here to register and enroll.